Sunday, November 01, 2009

It’s Not a Bad Time to Be Funny in the City

IF you are of the view that nurture trumps nature, you might not have predicted a career as a professional comic for Kumail Nanjiani. He grew up in Pakistan — “Not necessarily a very funny place,” he says — and had never seen a moment of stand-up comedy until he came to Iowa for college and watched a Jerry SeinfeldHBO special. In his background’s favor, however, at college — Grinnell — he double-majored in computer science and philosophy (“Funnier than you’d think”), and his father was a psychiatrist back in Karachi (“Inherently pretty funny”) who, after relocating their family and his practice to New Jersey, developed an obsession with designer jeans. “The super-expensive ones, like 7 for All Mankind, True Religion, Citizens of Humanity,” Mr. Nanjiani said. “You can’t make this stuff up.” It’s Not a Bad Time to Be Funny in the City [thanks RJ]